Chicago Bulls: Derrick Rose Not Recruiting Carmelo Anthony Is Not A Big Deal

By Wally Jacobs

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The Chicago Bulls‘ former MVP, Derrick Rose, took a lot of heat when he refused to recruit LeBron James during the free agency process in 2010. Several media outlets even wondered if Rose’s standoffish approach was the reason why the Bulls didn’t land James in the first place.

However, it was never Rose’s job to recruit players to begin with.

Sure, it would’ve been nice if Rose went above and beyond in order to bring James to Chicago at the time. However, it also would be nice if the team had access to a time machine and could pluck Michael Jordan from the past onto this current Bulls team — circa 1993. Obviously, that isn’t going to happen.

Now, a day before the free agency period is scheduled to start in the NBA, Rose is already facing some media scrutiny for stating that he will not recruit Carmelo Anthony or any other players to come to Chicago. Rose is already known for being quiet and soft-spoken, so free agents should already know not to expect a call from him anytime soon.

That doesn’t mean that Rose doesn’t want to play with certain players; it only suggests that Rose is not a good salesman and wouldn’t know where to begin when pitching the idea of coming to Chicago to other players.

Besides, that’s what GM Gar Forman is essentially paid to do. It’s up to Forman, along with Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations John Paxson, to try and sweet-talk these players into signing with the Bulls. They’re the ones who handle the negotiation process along with creating the contracts for their players, so it’s also up to them to bring the best available free agents to the Bulls.

The only way that would change is in the event that Forman is fired and Rose is named as the team’s general manager. And once again, that isn’t going to happen.

Rose is already coming off of two devastating knee injuries that forced him to miss a total of 154 regular season games. He should be focusing more on getting back on the court to help the Bulls, not manning the phones as Forman’s personal secretary to land free agents. Joakim Noah is already busy recruiting Anthony, as was coach Tom Thibodeau, so the Bulls management already found a couple of guys willing to do Forman’s job for him.

At this point, adding Rose to the recruiting process might also be overbearing and over the top for some free agents on the market.

Essentially, Rose just needs to do what he feels is best for the team. If he wants to recruit players alongside Noah and Thibodeau, he should do so by all means. Nevertheless, he shouldn’t be pressured by the media and even the team to recruit players if he isn’t comfortable with it.

Let Rose concentrate on his 2014-15 return from injury, and not worry about who he should be calling this summer.